After an expectation-defying first year, the Bluffton International & Craft Beer Fest returns Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. with about 125 different brews to satisfy the connoisseur and newbie alike.

More than 1,000 people came out for the inaugural last year to sample ales, stouts, lagers and pilsners from mostly small, independent U.S. brewers and the best from the world stage, said Mark Weisner, owner of Bear Foot Sports and the event’s organizer.

“We have more breweries for sure, and we should have more beers,” he said. “It gets to a point when you have too many beers for the amount of people.”

Weisner said he fell out of the festival-throwing business but decided to start again after South Carolina lifted its alcohol cap for beer to 14 percent in 2007 and the smaller breweries “had kind of a Renaissance.”

“In a nut shell, Sam Adams had a lot of success, and everyone started brewing it and it all tasted like Sam Adams,” he said. “A small percentage of them survived, and the people who were really serious about making good beer, in their garages or wherever, started getting better and the second wave is doing much better.”

Although the beer list isn’t finalized, it will likely include selections from Charleston (Holy City and Palmetto), Myrtle Beach (New South) and North Carolina (Foothills).

The market for craft beers — defined as such by smaller-scale production and independent ownership by the American Brewers Association — has taken off with this “second wave,” and with it, beer festivals, Weisner said.

“Now it seems like everybody is doing a beer festival,” he said. “We want to do a unique festival with a wide variety of styles from around the world. We don’t want to just throw a bunch of beers out there, with something new every year so it’s not the same stuff showing up again and again.”

The organizer who hand picked each beer has some advice to get the most of the day.

“There’s two ways of thought: Either choose a style or choose a brewery and sample that way,” he said. “There’s four hours, so don’t try to sample all the beers in the first hour.”

A portion of event proceeds will go to benefit the Palmetto Animal League. The event includes live music, food, wine and cider.

Tickets in advance go for $15 at participating sponsor locations, while the price of entry is $20 at the door. That price includes a souvenir sampling glass for the first 1,000 attendees and six samples. Additional four-ounce samples vary from $1 to $3.

VIP tickets include access to 10 premium specialty beers not available with a standard ticket and more samples.

Go to blufftonbeerfest.com for more information.

BEER STYLE OVERVIEW

In general, beer contains four basic ingredients: Malt, yeast, water and hops. Malt gives beer its sweetness with its natural sugars, yeast allows it to ferment while sometimes giving a distinctive taste, and the amount of hops — now essential to the unique flavor we attribute to beer — controls bitterness/spiciness.

PILSNER

The most common type of beer in the U.S. (and indeed, much of the world), Pilsner is golden in color, fizzy and contains a moderate amount of hops for bitterness/fresh taste and lighter flavor. Budweiser, Miller, Coors, Yuengling, Corona, and Heineken all fall into this general category of beer.

ALE

A broad category of beer encompassing many sub categories, ale is brewed with malted barley using warm fermentation for a sweeter, bolder and fruitier taste. A generally higher level of hops gives a bitter herbal taste that counteracts the effects of the malt. Even the sub categories have sub categories, with distinctions between English pale ales (a more floral taste and smell) and American pale ales (a more citrus-like taste found in Sierra Nevada).

PORTER/STOUT

The history of these two categories is somewhat intertwined, but a porter or stout generally comes with a roasted malt flavor, sometimes approaching a coffee-like taste and color. Typical stouts are very lightly hopped, though Imperial stouts are more aggressive in that department. American porters tend to be more hoppy than their English counterparts.

WHEAT BEER

Separating this beer from the rest, wheat brews contain a higher percentage of wheat malt to barley malt. The wheat does little to the flavor, but it does create a silkier feel going down the throat. Highly fizzy and light, they’re often considered excellent summer brews. Because of these qualities, it’s often used in fruit-flavored varieties. Like the other stylistic distinctions, though, this is just a wide umbrella term for a host of categories.

ON THE WEB

Go to Bluffton Today’s Facebook page to post about your favorite brews and those you’d like to see represented in the future. The best posts earn free passes.

Comments are welcome, so long as they are civil. A Facebook account is required. Abuse may result in the commenter being permanently blocked. Personal attacks are strictly prohibited. We reserve the right to remove any comments at any time.